The toughest women's tournament in the history of the sport begins here today, writes Bill Colwill from Cape Town. At stake are five of the eight places at next summer's Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Britain's prospects in the round-robin event involving seven games in 13 days spring from a blend of experience and youth. Much, however, will depend on whether the coach, Sue Slocombe, has been able to knit together a squad from the national teams of England and Scotland.

Britain open their programme tomorrow against Canada, always a difficult side to beat, and they need to win this opening game otherwise the path to qualification will be extremely difficult.